[asterisk-users] Really Silly Question From Total Newbie

[Steve Edwards]

On Tue, 5 Jan 2010, UIT DEVELOPMENT wrote:

> Are you saying that if I got a number that was in my parents area code 
> then they could be making a "local" call to my Asterisk, which is 
> physically a 1000+ miles from them?  Now that is cool.

See http://www.voip-info.org/wiki/view/DID+Service+Providers

Setting up IAX has fewer potholes than SIP. If your Asterisk server 
"registers" with the provider you can skip all of the firewall and routing 
issues as well.

You can have any number of PSTN numbers ring your Asterisk server. You can 
assign (in your dial plan) custom ring tones to each so you know if it is 
your "friends & family" number, your wife's business number, your "I'm 
looking for a job" number, etc.

A lot of the "free" DIDs are in the middle of nowhere because of the funny 
FCC tariffs that say that the long distance carrier has to pay the rural 
telephone company "above market" rates for the call. That's how some of 
the cheesy, late-night cable TV chat services work.

You can get DIDs in other countries as well. I have 5 in England so that 
when my wife is "home" she can call me or each of our kids with a "local" 
call.

The numbers are registered to my Asterisk server in San Diego. When a call 
comes in, it dials (using Vitelity) the "real" cell numbers.

-- 
Thanks in advance,
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Steve Edwards       sedwards at sedwards.com      Voice: +1-760-468-3867 PST
Newline                                              Fax: +1-760-731-3000